Course Description: This is an upper division course for undergraduate or graduate students who want to study Turkey and engage in experiential learning while spending time in Turkey. The course involves meetings with representatives of various groups in modern Turkish society (human services, government, religion, business, tourism, etc.), a five-day stay with a Turkish host household, excursions to the ruins of Ephesus, the cities of Edirne and Izmir, and significant time in Istanbul with visits to museums, cultural sites, and intensive exposure to Turkish culture. The course will begin on May 26th and run through June 29th, but we depart from Springfield on June 5 and return on June 23rd. Writing assignments include a journal that will be at least 3,000 words (about 13 pages) double-spaced pages) and an essay addressing five questions (of at least 1,500 words, about 6 double-spaced pages).

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes:Students will have an informed opinion, based on a case study of Turkey, of whether an Islamic society can be a setting for a flourishing liberal democracy.Students will have a better awareness of their own culture’s assumptions and generalizations about Muslims and persons from Islamic regions such as the non-Arab Middle East. Students will be able to critique and question those assumptions and generalizations.Students will gain an appreciation for how people live in a society that is classified as upper middle income (e.g., Turkey, China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico) as compared to a High Income OECD society such as the United States.Students will have a better understanding of the history and cultures of Anatolia and of Eastern Thrace.Students will be familiar with the architecture of classical period Ottoman architecture and especially the work of Mimar Sinan (1489-1588).Students will have a basic understanding of concerns in modernizing Turkey such as:Preservation of secularism and making accommodations for moderate political Islam.Respect for freedoms and human rights, and the evolution from dictatorship toward democracy.Issues of economic development such as the work of promoting tourism.Turkey’s ambitions to be a global player in diplomacy with influence in Central Asia and AfricaIssues of health care and welfare provision in TurkeyThe growth of civic society and the formation of institutionalized interest groups.Economic and demographic transition in Turkey.